Company: Eli Lilly 
2007 Ad Spending: $774.2 million
2006 Ad Spending: $511.1 million
Breakdown
Where Lilly is spending money: Eli Lilly pumped up its media push on its antidepressant Cymbalta by a decent 17.5 percent to $184 million. Percentage-wise, Byetta scored the biggest increase-to $31.7 million from $773,000. And while spending on Cialis grew to $126.5 million from $45 million, that boost came in part from Lilly's buyout of its partner on the drug.
Results? Well, industry watchers liked Lilly's "Depression Hurts" campaign for Cymbalta; Medical Marketing & Media deemed it the best overall consumer campaign. And Cymbalta sales growth reached a whopping 60 percent, giving Lilly a $2.1 billion infusion to the top line, $1.8 billion of that in the U.S. alone.
Meanwhile, Cialis chalked up a 20 percent hike in U.S. sales to $485 million. But the Byetta push was more successful, yielding a 48 percent boost in U.S. sales to $636 million; worldwide sales were slightly higher at $650 million. Lilly's share of that amounted to $330 million, because it sells the drug in partnership with Amylin Pharmaceuticals.
Where Lilly isn't spending money: Lilly backed off on advertising its number-one seller, the antipsychotic med Zyprexa. Concerns that the drug caused excessive weight gain in some patients-even leading to diabetes-were expected to depress sales. Plus, the company was fighting lawsuits from patients and state governments over its marketing of the drug. Lilly still managed to grow Zyprexa's U.S. revenue, though: the drug brought in $2.2 billion in the U.S., a 6 percent increase. The company offset falling demand by increasing prices.
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/bristol-myers-squibb-top-13-advertising-budgets
[2] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/top-13-advertising-budgets
[3] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/merck-top-13-advertising-budgets